A4891

An Act concerning the publication of the Senate Journals and Assembly Minutes, and amending R.S.1:4-1 through R.S.1:4-4, and R.S.1:4-6.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. R.S.1:4-1 is amended to read as follows:

1:4-1. The Senate Journal, the Assembly Minutes, and the minutes of the joint meetings of both Houses of the Legislature shall be [printed] published in such style as the Senate and General Assembly shall direct, and shall be published by the Office of Legislative Services on its Internet site.

(cf: P.L.1981, c.448, s.8)

2. R.S.1:4-2 is amended to read as follows:

1:4-2. The Secretary of the Senate shall cause to be prepared for [printing] publication copies of the Senate Journal in which shall be included the minutes of the joint meetings of the Legislature, as directed by the Senate; and the clerk of the General Assembly shall cause to be prepared like copies of the house minutes. The copies so prepared shall be delivered by the Office of Legislative Services [to the person having the contract to print the same]. The Office of Legislative Services shall publish the copies on its Internet site.

The President of the Senate or the Speaker of the General Assembly may direct the Office of Legislative Services to have printed on paper and bound as a volume not more than 10 copies of the journal or minutes, as appropriate, for an entire annual session.

Immediately after each copy of the Senate Journal and Assembly Minutes has been made and prepared for [printing] publication as required by this section, the originals shall be [deposited in] sent by electronic mail to the office of the Secretary of State, there to remain and [by him] be kept unaltered [and undefaced].

(cf: P.L.1981, c.448, s.9)

3. R.S.1:4-4 is amended to read as follows:

1:4-4. The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly, respectively, shall prepare and deliver to the [printer] Office of Legislative Services an index of the Senate Journal and Assembly Minutes for the entire session. The [printer shall print as many copies as the Senate and General Assembly direct] Office of Legislative Services shall publish the index on its Internet site.

(cf: P.L.1981, c.448, s.10)

4. R.S.1:4-6 is amended to read as follows:

1:4-6. a. Any person desiring a complete set of the bills and resolutions introduced in any year in the Legislature, together with the usual index slips, daily memoranda, [advance parts of the Journal of the Senate and Minutes of the Assembly] and advance copies of laws, may file an application therefore with the Office of Legislative Services, accompanying the application with payment of an annual subscription fee in an amount to be fixed from time to time by the Legislative Services Commission. Upon receipt of the application and fee, the Office of Legislative Services shall cause the name and address of the applicant to be added to the printer's mailing list of members of the Legislature, and thereafter during the year such bills and resolutions, slips, daily memoranda, [advance parts of the Journal and Minutes] and advance copies of laws shall be mailed by the printer to such applicant as and when the same are mailed to members of the Legislature.

b. Any person desiring an advance copy of each law, to be published and distributed prior to the printing of the annual edition of the laws as provided in R.S. 1:3-1, may file an application therefor with the Office of Legislative Services accompanying the application with payment of an annual subscription fee to be fixed by the Legislative Services Commission in the manner provided in subsection a. of this section.

(cf: P.L.1981, c.448, s.12)

5. This act shall take effect on the first day of the first annual session of the 2024-2025 Legislative Term.

STATEMENT

Under current law, the Senate Journals, Assembly Minutes, minutes of the joint meetings of both Houses of the Legislature, and their indexes, are printed and bound as a volume for each annual legislative session of each House.

Under this bill, the journals, minutes, and indexes would be published online by the Office of Legislative Services, and not as bound volumes. However, the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the General Assembly may have the Office of Legislative Services print not more than 10 copies of a bound volume for an entire annual session of the Senate or General Assembly.